BAGUIO Councilor Philian Weygan–Allan expressed her full support on the development of the Baguio City Public Market but stressed full discussion of all deals received by the City should be made.
“I am definitely supportive that we should develop [the market]. It is not true that I am against development. I just want to make that clear. We need a comparison of the various proposals vis-a-vis, that unsolicited proposal of SM and Robinsons. I think the people want to know and get involved in the discussions,” Allan said.
During the presentation on Monday, June 6, 2020, at the City Council, City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña said the unsolicited proposals given by the two mall giants will take into consideration the interest of over 3,000 legitimate vendors in the city market.
Allan stressed the lease contract should be studied further.
“A lease per se is defined in the ordinance. But according to city admin, it can be the start of the negotiation. This was what I wanted to be clarified because we cannot redefine what is a lease agreement in the ordinance or the PPP (public-private partnership) definition. We cannot change the definition in the middle of a game,” Allan added.
Costing P5.4 billion, SM Prime Holdings proposed a seven-story Cordilleran inspired building, with the first two floors dedicated to local vendors and three top floors allotted for the mall component of the project. Two levels of parking capable of accommodating at least 1,900 vehicles will also be included.
It will take SM two and a half years to build the project.
Robinsons Corporation, meanwhile, proposed to construct two buildings, one for the use of the local market stakeholders and the other for the mall component of the project, totaling P6.148 billion and will take four years to build.
Robinsons has yet to indicate how many floors they intend to build.
“Of the two deals, Robinson has not fully defined its terms. SM has more or less presented a package that can already be scrutinized. SM will build a seven-story building and two floors for the market, and the rest is for them to manage and own until they turn over after 50 years,” Allan added.